Athletes Often Ignore Illness' Warning Signs

February 03, 1999|By Teddy Greenstein, Tribune Staff Writer.

It's a paradox doctors who treat top athletes come across again and again.

"As much as athletes are focused on their bodies," said Robert Burton, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University Medical School, "their (desire) to deny symptoms is very powerful."

In Walter Payton's case, the toughness that helped him shed tacklers and the fitness that allowed him to miss just one game during his 13-year NFL career might have been a detriment over the last year. Although Payton said he first felt ill in July, his rare liver condition, primary sclerosing cholangitis, wasn't identified until a few weeks ago.

"Being as fit as he is, it may have prolonged the diagnosis," said Dr. Joseph Lagattuta, Payton's physician. "Most people that we see don't stay in shape like he does."

And many athletes who are in top shape have trouble accepting they might be sick.

"In general they can't believe that anything could be wrong with them," said Martin Black, who has treated professional athletes as the director of liver transplantation for Temple University in Philadelphia.

Take Mario Lemieux. The hockey superstar first noticed a lump on his neck during the summer of 1991. But he didn't get it checked out until the following January, despite having recorded public service announcements for the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

On the day he learned he had a form of Hodgkin's disease, Lemieux cried. But after weeks of radiation treatments, Lemieux returned to the ice March 2, 1992, and he remains in good condition.

The disbelief can be far-reaching. Despite experiencing abdominal pain, Darryl Strawberry waited three months for an examination--even though a close friend, Eric Davis, had been treated for colon cancer just a year earlier. Strawberry, finishing up a 24-home run season, had a hard time believing he could be ill. On Oct. 1 he was diagnosed as having colon cancer. After responding well to treatments, Strawberry is expected to play for the Yankees this season.

In 1996 cyclist Lance Armstrong felt pain and swelling in one of his testicles. He even spit up blood. But only when the pain became intolerable did Armstrong see a doctor. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

"Athletes by their nature have learned how to move beyond minor symptoms and block them out," said James Puffer, the chief of sports medicine at UCLA and the head physician for 1988 U.S. Olympic team. "It obviously is difficult for athletes to come to grips with something that will adversely affect their career."

When four New York Giants contracted varying forms of cancer during the 1980s, there was suspicion the team's New Jersey Meadowlands facility, which was built on a landfill, was the cause.

Former linebacker Dan Lloyd had been struck with lymphocytic lymphoma in 1980; running back Doug Kotar developed an inoperable brain tumor two years later; running back John Tuggle contracted blood vessel cancer in 1986; and offensive lineman Karl Nelson was diagnosed with a form of Hodgkin's disease in 1987. Only Lloyd and Nelson survive.

The public wondered: How could four seemingly healthy football players from the same team contract such rare illnesses?

"I think that's one of the myths of sport--that the athletes are in such top physical shape, they're less likely to get sick," Burton said.

Indeed, Payton said early in his Tuesday news conference: "To some of you, I don't look healthy, but I still am."

He later likened his condition to "a sprained ankle or twisted knee."

Perhaps Payton was being coy. Perhaps not.

"(Athletes) often feel they're invincible," Black said.

Of course, history has proven that to be a fallacy. Lou Gehrig was baseball's ultimate iron man, playing in 2,130 consecutive games before contracting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease later named for him.

In 1970 Bears running back Brian Piccolo died of testicular cancer at 26. Nowadays, the cure rate for testicular cancer is about 98 percent.